Zoological Miscellany, 



91 



wills-widow flickers noiselessly into view for an instant, giving us a 

 long. wished for opportunit}- for a hasty shot at the place in the dense 

 foliage, where it disappeared. 



Securing our bird, we turn our course toward an open glade, whence 

 the tapping of the sh} r Pileated Woodpecker on some blasted trunk, 

 greets our ears; a pair of Wood Ducks are disporting themselves in 

 the pool below; a Snowy Egret poises gracefully in bold relief against 

 its inky surface, while the rattling note of the Kingfisher oh an over- 

 hanging limb, announces our intrusion. The Alligators have not yet 

 awakened from their winter's sleep, and even - at the most favorable 

 times are not nearly so common as us unsophisticated Northerners are 

 apt to think them. 



The hour of noon arrives: the palmettos quiver in the embrace of 

 the last dying zephyr; all forest sounds are hushed, save the monoton- 

 ous hum of myriad insects; and, after due attention to the material 

 wants of the inner man, we take our siesta on the prostrate trunk of a 

 patriarchal cypress. 



Rested and refreshed, we shape our course to reach the edge of a 

 clearing, where our wishful gaze is rewarded by the sight of an ap- 

 proaching flock of Little Blue Herons. They number among their 

 ranks a goodly number of the white (generally considered immature), 

 birds, and after circling about for a few moments, set their wings and 

 glide downward into the center of an overflowed meadow, far out of 

 gunshot from the nearest cover, where, with craning necks and stately, 

 measured steps, they proceed to regale themselves to satiet}' on the 

 ever- abundant Crayfish. 



This last-mentioned animal is an exceedingly important element of 

 the fauna, as well from an economic as from a zoologic standpoint; for 

 not only does it form a staple article on the bill of fare of many birds 

 and mammals, but at the tables of the native population supplies the 

 place occupied by the Shrimp in many seaboard districts; and the 

 writer can testify, from abundant personal experience, to its gustative 

 attractions. It is a very common sio-ht to see half a dozen or more 

 Creole women and children grouped along a ditch-bank in the warm 

 afternoon sun, catching the Crayfish for their evening meal. Their 

 tackle is exceedingly simple, consisting merely of a stick three or four 

 feet long and a line of equal length, to which is attached a "chunk" 

 of bacon; with this primitive apparatus you may take a peck or more 

 of Crayfish in a few hours. As the cit} T of Paris consumes annually 

 live or six millions of Crayfish, at a cost of about eighty thousand 



